PBs @ Victoria parkrun

Lap 1

I noticed, a while ago, that I was averaging every second parkrun so it was no surprise that my 149th one should co-incide with the 300th staging of the original Scottish parkrun being held in Pollok Park.  However I decided to give the tri centeneral parkrun a miss and instead chose to race in the 54th Victoria parkrun in an attempt to get a fast time.

This was my my ninth outing at the west of Glasgow event and my Course PB was an acceptable 21:07.  I'd worked extremely hard to get that time but I was confident that my running had improved and I was hoping to beat that today.  If truth be known, I was actually hoping for a sub 21 minute 5k.

There were some good runners today with Elaine Omand travelling down from Dundee, for the second week in succession, on her tour of Scottish parkruns, being my tip in the women's 5k. With fellow Bellahouston Harriers, Jack Arnold and Cris Walsh favourites for first and second place in the Men's race.

Although there were some 227 runners participating, there weren't that many that I usually 'race' against, apart from the new slimmed down version of Graeme Aitken, who wasn't feeling 100% this morning.  My training's been good and I was confident enough, not only to be wearing my club vest but to tell a few friends that I was going for a course PB.

Lap 2

Lap 3

I positioned myself nearer the front than usual and worked hard right from the off.  I ignored the beeps from Garmin and never checked my pace at any stage, deciding instead to give my all and hope that it would be good enough to get a PB.

Encouragement from Marina McCallum, on marshalling duties, Donald Petrie and Gavin Harvie helped me to focus on the job at hand.  I sprinted down the final strait knowing that every second would count and I was delighted to cross the Finish line in 39th position, with a time of 20:53, some 14 seconds off of my course PB, under my 21minute target, and my fastest 5k since January 2011!

Results

My pre-race predictions had been correct, as Jack Arnold stormed to victory with a PB of 16:27, Chris Walsh earned Silver with a time of 17:02 and Elaine Omand won the Women's Race (14th overall) with a PB of 19:05.

Maggie Reid McKeith, continued her great improvement, which saw her taken 28 seconds off of her PB in her last outing, by taking a further 13 seconds off to win the Women's 50+ race in a time of 24:30!

Unlucky for Some?
Congratulations to Hamish Barbour, who ran to a great PB of 18:48 in his 13th parkrun.

Thanks

Once again, many thanks to the organisers and volunteers for giving up their time and putting on such a great event and to my fellow runners for the race and pre and post race chat.

Pics taken by Donald Petrie and edited by Ian Goudie Photography.

Full Results here

2015km in 2015

The challenge is simple, to run 2015 kilometres in the year 2015.  An average of just over 5.52km each day.

For those who prefer miles this equates to 1252.1 miles and an average of only 3.43 miles per day.

Join in the challenge by Liking the Facebook page

Best Ever WAVA @ Glasgow Green 3k

Focussed Racing

I've not been racing for a while, due to illness, but I have been training well and had a couple of decent tempo runs around Pollok parkrun, so I was feeling quite confident when I turned out for the October 3k on the Green Race.  I had managed a time of 11:58 on my last outing in March and I knew that I'd need to work hard to match that time. Conditions were almost perfect for a good run, with no wind and unseasonal temperatures.  There was a great turmout of 78 runners, boosted by 18 from the local Blackfriars Primary School.  Although there were a lot of running buddies participating, most of them are out of my class and there was no-one that I could challenge myself against. Instead, it would have to be a race against the clock today.  That said, I did try to keep Al MacLachlan and Charlotte Fortune in sight for as long as possible, which wasn't that long!  The noise from the footsteps of runners behind me kept the pressure on and other and helped to ensure that I kept working around the, out and back, course.  Although I was a little dissapointed not to be able to hold of the challenge from Eddie Carr, Although I was shattered, I was also elated to cross the line in 35th place, in a time of 11:51.  Seven seconds faster than my last race, my best time in 4 years and only 3 seconds off of my PB, I was even happier to discover that I had recorded my highest race WAVA ever, at 75%.

Many thanks to the organisers and fellow runners for their support in this great wee event, which also helpe to raise funds for the Helambu Project.

Results

Up front, it was two of my friends who took the honours in their first outing, with Cambuslang's Shaun Butler, swapping the Tollcross park hills for the much flatter Glasgow Green, winning in a time of 9:30.  With Linlithgow's Charlotte Fortune earning Gold in the women's race, with a time of 10:52.

Pics by David Mooney.

Full Results:

1 Shaun Butler Senior M Ronhill Cambuslang 00:09:30

2 Craig Reid Senior M Bellahouston Roadrunners 00:09:34
3 Simon Fraser Senior M Glasgow Tri Club 00:09:44
4 Stuart MacDougall Senior M 00:09:48
5 Peter Mackie Senior M Shettleston Harriers 00:09:49
6 Chris Upson Super Veteran M Westerlands 00:09:56
7 Steven Prentice Veteran M Bellahouston Harriers 00:10:03
8 Richard Cooper Veteran M 00:10:05
9 Ted Gourley Super Veteran M Giffnock North 00:10:07
10 Euan Craig Senior M Kirkintilloch Olympians 00:10:17
11 John Connaghan Veteran M Shettleston Harriers 00:10:22
12 Dave Thom Super Veteran M Ronhill Cambuslang 00:10:24
13 George Taylor Super Veteran M 00:10:30
14 Gerard Scullion Veteran M Bellahouston Roadrunners 00:10:31
15 Kevan McCartney Veteran M Greenock Glenpark Har'rs 00:10:32
16 Darren Murray Veteran M Bellahouston Harriers 00:10:33
17 Raymond Farrell Veteran M Bellahouston Roadrunners 00:10:33
18 Alastair Andrew Senior M 00:10:40
19 Justin Carter Veteran M 00:10:40
20 Neil Farnell Senior M Bellahouston Roadrunners 00:10:41
21 Alastair MacLachlan Super Vet M Bellahouston RR 00:10:44
22 Henry Merriweather Veteran M Bellahouston RR 00:10:44
23 John Hagemeister Veteran M 00:10:45
24 Fergal Duffy Veteran M 00:10:49
25 Charlotte Fortune Senior F Linlithgow AC 00:10:52
26 Barrie Johnstone Senior M 00:10:54
27 Jonathan Scales Super Veteran M 00:11:10
28 David Murphy Veteran M Shettleston Harriers 00:11:14
29 Paul Taylor Veteran M 00:11:30
30 Hilary Robinson Veteran F 00:11:40
31 Bruce Henry Senior M 00:11:44
32 Duncan Leitch Senior M 00:11:46
33 Eddie Carr Super Veteran M Ronhill Cambuslang 00:11:47
34 Stephen Scheuerl Veteran M Wee County Harriers 00:11:50
35 Ian Goudie Super Veteran M Bellahouston Harriers 00:11:51
36 Alaister Jeffrey Senior M 00:11:53
37 Steven McCarley Senior M Glasgow Frontrunners 00:12:06
38 Mike Donohue Super Veteran M 00:12:10
39 Jennifer Duru Senior F Garscube Harriers 00:12:12
40 John Appleton Senior M 00:12:14
41 Alan Dempster Senior M 00:12:20
42 Russell Paton Senior M 00:12:23
43 Greg Crockart Senior M Glasgow Frontrunners 00:12:25
44 Scott Fergus Veteran M 00:12:41
45 Graeme Pert Super Veteran M 00:12:48
46 Joyce Allardice Super Veteran F Clyde Runners 00:12:50
47 Robbie Robinson Veteran M 00:12:51
48 Pauline Wallace Veteran F 00:12:58
49 Michael Young Super Veteran M 00:12:59
50 Alasdair MacKay Veteran M Garscube Harriers 00:13:02
51 Anne Scott Veteran F 00:13:35
52 Angela Campbell Senior F Bellahouston Harriers 00:13:48
53 Margaret Hutchinson Veteran F 00:13:53
54 Graham Whitfield Senior M 00:13:54
55 Russell Morrison Super Veteran M 00:13:58
56 Colin Stewart Veteran M Shettleston Harriers 00:13:58
57 Aidan Adams Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:14:00
58 Yomna Yamani Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:14:00
59 Martin McCormack Senior M Blackfriars PS 00:14:03
60 Catriona Gourley Super Veteran F 00:15:14
61 Scott Wilson Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:15:26
62 Medina Keran Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:15:27
63 John Softley Super Veteran M Bellahouston Harriers 00:15:30
64 Ailsa Smith Super Veteran F 00:15:58
65 Hayden Fisher Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:16:47
66 Marco Wright Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:16:48
67 Jay McGinlay Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:17:42
68 Caro Kawa Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:19:29
69 Shaleeya Kawa Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:20:34
70 Charlotte Baker Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:20:36
71 Walter Ewing Super Veteran M Shettleston Harriers 00:21:07
72 Liam Smith Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:23:36
73 Kaiden Stevenson Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:23:42
74 Paris Burton Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:23:52
75 Alfasa Janzada Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:24:03
76 Holly Blair Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:24:03
77 Afifa Bukhari Junior F Blackfriars PS 00:24:03
78 Dylan Cleugh Junior M Blackfriars PS 00:24:34